Keys
by TopKat
Summary: [AkuRoku] Roxas decides he has to leave.[oneshot]


**Keys**

There was a moment of slience when Axel entered the room and immediately all colour dropped from his face.

The offending object lay cold across Roxas' lap, and as Axel forced a winsome smile onto his face, Roxas fingered the keychain listlessly. "Right. So have you got a giant door to unlock, or...?" Axel sat himself next to the smaller boy carefully, regarding the weapon with empty curiosity.

"I'm, uh.." Roxas started, his voice almost a whisper. "I think I'm gonna have to leave." This threw Axel for an entire rollercoaster of loops, and he flapped his mouth uselessly.

"Why?" He couldn't muster much more than that, and looked away as Roxas continued to lightly brush the keyblade's surface with his fingers, looking as distraught as Axel felt.

"I can't let them get the Keyblade."

"What, you have to let them _kill you _first?"

Roxas smiled in the most melancholy way, looking into his friend's eyes. "Watch." He threw the keyblade with all his might, hearing the ringing clatter as it hit the opposite wall. The blade promptly disappeared, reappearing in Roxas' outstretched hand. "See?" He laughed bitterly. "They can't have the blade if they don't have me."

"I- Roxas, you can't seriously think you could run away from the Organisation. You...you can't _do_ that. There's nowhere to run to."

"There are other worlds out there...I think I coul-" He was cut off by Axel's angry snarl.

"No, _dumbass. _Remember this?" He put a hand to his chest. "Yeah. Someone with a heart doesn't_ get _to go far. You're lucky to even exist." He snatched the keyblade, grunting in frustration when it disappeared and reappeared in Roxas' hand once again. "I can see your point though." He grinned, and Roxas smiled back. Both sobered quickly and looked back at the blade.

"I hate this thing, and I can't ever get rid of it. I mean...what the hell am I supposed to do with this for the rest of my life?"

"Work out how to destroy it."

Roxas shook his head. "No, you don't understand...it's...I don't think it's any more real than you or me..." He sighed. "How do you destroy something that doesn't even exist...?"

Axel was quiet. "Not _existing _didn't help Vexen."

Roxas responded only with silence, breathing in deeply before he spoke. "There's...A feeling that comes with it. I don't think I've ever...I don't know. It's strange, like knowing you have _something_ to do...but not knowing _what_." He blinked slowly. "Why _me_, though?"

"Why ask?" Axel said boredly, flopping back onto the bed. He leaned his neck on his arms, staring up at the ceiling. "This whole thing is stupid. Nobodies don't get to be heroes."

Roxas nodded. "I know." He closed his eyes and let himself drop also, leaning back so he could look at Axel properly. The Keyblade lay across his ankles. "I have to go."

Axel opened one eye and turned slowly to face his friend. "Why?" Roxas sighed in irritation, his eyebrows furrowing.

"Because I have to! I can't stay here. Not with everyone - you know, all they'd do is play me like a puppet."

Axel huffed. "But you'd still be _here_...With me." He closed his eyes again, shifting back to face the ceiling.

"You'd rather have me here than have me happy?"

"Yeah." Axel started to laugh, chuckling deeply until Roxas started to join in. He was tired and this was so hysterical that he thought he might rather die than have to live after the laughter was gone...Roxas, his eyes tearing up as he tried desperately to stop, pulled a hand through his thick spikes of hair and sat up abruptly, making Axel go silent as he did the same.

"...What?" The older boy put a hand on Roxas' shoulder, peering at him through sudden wide and frightened eyes. "What is it?"

"Something's going to happen." He muttered, and Axel gave a frantic bark of laughter.

"What,you're _the Oracle _now? It's a key, not a crystal ball!"

The blonde gave Axel a playful shove and rolled his eyes. "No, really?" He turned the blade in his hands, running his palms over the smooth metal. "It's like when you first found me. Like...like drowning." He looked not panicked, but just...resigned.

"I don't remember it." Axel stated firmly. "It's been years since then."

"It only happened to me a year ago. Did you ever dream about existing? About drowning?"

Axel grinned. "Didn't have to! With Demyx living here, the drowning came without invitation."

Roxas smiled back. "So much for 'no hearts, no emotion', huh? This is killing me."

"You're the one who wants to leave." Axel glared. "If it's killing_ you_, I'm dead, buried and worm-eaten!"

Roxas laughed. "Don't think I won't miss you."

"You're_ not _going to miss me." Axel stated matter-of-factly, frowning. "Because you're_ not leaving_."

His friend laughed, but it sounded hollow. "I don't know. I don't know anything! I need to find out why the keyblade chose _me_..." He turned to Axel. "I _will_ miss you. I will... - If I go." He added quickly, stopping Axel's retort in its tracks. "You're my best friend."

Axel leaned down and gently kissed Roxas' cheek, smiling wanly. "Yeah, but it's never enough, is it?"


End file.
